I had a reader send the link to this very well put together video by a Korean-American by the name of Jay Kim living in Los Angeles that I think accurately shows what the average Korean on the street thinks about the US beef protests despite the number of inaccuracies in the video:
Some of the points in the video I agree with such as the criticism with Lee’s Canal and his cabinet hirings but trying to blame him for something like the Namdaemun fire when he is not even the Mayor of Seoul in charge of security of the historic site is ridiculous. Also the shots at Lee Myung-bak for trying to improve relations with Japan and the US were quite predictable as well.
Many of the facts presented about mad cow disease are also ridiculous such as claiming that dimentia of 5 million people in the US is caused by mad cow disease. Another ridiculous claim is that the protesters have all been peaceful while the police have been brutally attacking them when there is plenty of pictures and video available of police being assaulted and their buses set on fire by demonstrators. Counter demonstrators have likewise been assaulted by the mob. Plenty of more inaccuracies but I think everyone gets the point.
Protester setting a police bus on fire.
Protesters illegally blocking traffic in Seoul.
Video of Jay Kim’s peaceful protesters.
Despite the obvious flaws of the video it is still valuable insight into how many average Koreans were thinking before the protests began that the anti-US groups skillfully manipulated with the misinformation of the US beef issue to send public outrage spilling out onto the streets. If the anti-US groups will be able to continue to harness this public outrage to support their own anti-US agendas is still something that has yet to be determined.
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5:26 pm on June 16th, 2008 1
And there, as the Bard says, lies the rub!
It’s not about truth. It’s about perception of the truth!
The majority of the people perceive all these inaccuracies, distortions, half-truths, and outright lies to be true, so that makes them true.
Since these “truths” have been firmly planted in the minds of the public by a very, very effective anti-American/LMB propaganda machine, no amount of conflicting real facts or retractions of previous statements from the liars will change the perception.
So what are we to do with millions of people who stubbornly believe all these lies and distortions and are using this to hurt LMB and the US alliance?
Therein lies the rub!
6:43 pm on June 16th, 2008 2
Imagine, just imagine, if Israel adopted a future-minded foreign policy towards Germany. How insane would that be?
Oh wait, they already did. Oops!
7:04 pm on June 16th, 2008 3
Personally I thought the whole video was pretty stupid, and the kid needs to learn how to spell.
7:47 pm on June 16th, 2008 4
Didn’t look at the video yet. Not sure if you saw this or linked to it yet, but this video of protestors assaulting cops with weapons made its way around the internet last week: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sbqWSVpTa6g
8:12 pm on June 16th, 2008 5
8:24 pm on June 16th, 2008 6
It strikes me as the same problem over and over– if the protesters’ premise is true, then yes, your conclusion is terrible and we must pour by the millions into the streets!
However, they have simply enshrined so many premises as truth without so much as a “hmm.” Examples in this video: that US beef is contaminated, that dementia has risen 9000% in the US(implication is: at a far higher rate than other countries), that dementia is linked to US beef consumption. Accepted ipso facto, no attribution, no citation– as simply stated as the color of the sky.
Can you IMAGINE what rewards would accrue to the young doctor who manages to first publish a link between dementia and beef consumption? And if that were accomplished, wouldn’t doctors themselves make up the first ten or so rows of the protest lines?
9:04 pm on June 16th, 2008 7
Brian thanks for the video link. I had seen other videos of the violence but that one is particularly good and shows how disgusting some of these protesters are. I updated the posting with that video to show how absurd the claim of peaceful protesters being assaulted by Korean cops really is.
Dan85 yes the video is stupid but it useful to understand the point of view the average Korean is viewing these protests from, that the anti-US groups are manipulating.
The fact that Korean public believes the crap without question goes back to my prior posting about the lack of critical thinking taught in school from a young age.
That is why you have so many people not question so many of the outrageous claims. The Japan and Bush bashing in the video though is so predictable and Koreans fall for it everytime.
10:59 pm on June 16th, 2008 8
It wouldn’t be hard to refute that entire video with a similar format.
11:24 pm on June 16th, 2008 9
Yes, but none of the boneheads would believe it!
They have made up their minds and that’s that, no ifs, ands or buts!
11:42 pm on June 16th, 2008 10
GI,
I see your point about the video being useful, but that kid’s voice was SOOOOOOOOO annoying. I felt like I was watching the 9/11 conspiracy videos, only with less unintended comedy value.
6:14 am on June 17th, 2008 11
Agreed that Namdaemun charge is lame since he was not mayor when it burned down.
I’m also bothered by his using the f-word repeatedly along with other expletives. Reminded me of that infamous KTA video.
The corruption charge elicits yawns. Name me one president or former candidate who wasn’t tarnished with corruption accusations. One cannot rise to the top without amassing a huge pile of money and fair-weather friends.
As others have wondered, where on earth is the National Assembly in all this? Why aren’t Korean citizens working through their elected representatives?
If Koreans are worried about inflation now, what will happen to Korean prices when the failed FTA opens the door to trade retaliation?
“These people aren’t on the street because someone told them to…”
Oh, baloney. These protests have been organized from the beginning. The fairy tale of spontaneous participation needs to be put to rest.
I’m shutting off the video now. I can’t watch any more.
6:43 am on June 17th, 2008 12
I had to chuckle at the corruption charges as well considering some of the people Roh Moo-hyun had around him or Kim Dae-jung secretly giving $500 million to Kim Jong-il.
The protests were without a doubt organized by the anti-US groups and the numbers inflated by the KTU getting their students to participate as well as the other anti-US groups like the PSPD and the KCTU getting their members to turn out.
The original protests only had 10,000-20,000 but then the misinformation campaign in the media in support of the anti-US groups (ie-MBC) is what got the average citizen to join in the protests because of many of the false perceptions they already held that was displayed in the video.
And yes it does take a strong stomach to watch the whole video considering the amount of misinformation in it.
11:02 am on June 17th, 2008 13
[...] Of course, every nation has an absolute right to refuse to import goods that objective scientific study concludes to pose a statistically insignificant risk while simultaneously increasing imports of another product that will definitely kill you. And if you question the logic in that, you have shown disrespect for my Han. [...]
1:36 pm on June 17th, 2008 14
Koreans don’t like Americans. Figure it out. (oh but we will take your money)
2:52 pm on June 17th, 2008 15
Thats amazing. “Koreans don’t like americans”.. Perfect statement. If i am not mistaken wasn’t it the U.S. Army that stood up to CHINA when korean was getting beat down. Wasn’t it the U.S that stood UP for Korea, EVERY time they were in a conflict. Wasn’t it the U.S. that GAVE the Koreans back “their” land, (which really isn’t theirs), and most important, wasn’t it AMERICA who after allies with JAPAN built the korean nation from a single grain of dirt to a prosperous empire. And, now only a few decades later a SPOILED Korean makes the comment “Koreans don’t like americans”.. Sounds pretty familiar.. kinda like FRENCH.
4:47 pm on June 17th, 2008 16
Everyone knows that Korea is paradise for English teachers and unqualified GI’s. Danial DO NOT speak of things you know nothing about.
5:24 pm on June 17th, 2008 17
The words “Korea” and “Paradise” should never be used together in a sentence.
7:51 pm on June 17th, 2008 18
Well,the music at the end was petty cool.
9:33 pm on June 17th, 2008 19
Thanks for the post, GI. I was wondering what all the fuss was about. If I were the president, I’d be on TV every week having a BBQ, or a steak dinner, to counter the protest
8:35 am on June 18th, 2008 20
I enjoyed the video and it’s true that some of the information is not entirely true. However, I have done my research on the mad cow disease and there are some things that are kindda fishy what the US government is doing. Here is just one website that I read (http://www.organicconsumers.org/madcow.cfm) I also read through the governments documents on the beef export agreement. I would like to tell all those people who are protesting and the people who are talking carp about the protests to do your own research. Unless you know what you are talking about for sure don’t talk crap about other people, that just makes you sound more ignorant.
And about the protest, it is NOT about the anti-US. That’s what the Lee Myung-bak administration is trying to make it look like. Have you seen one protestor saying anything about the US government? Not really. They want President Lee to step down. Yes, some ignorant protestors will blame the US but that’s not the main point of the protest. The people are mad with President Lee, for ignoring the public. Especially for him to say that they must have been half asleep when they signed the agreement and even signing a agreement that was not properly translated, that got the people really mad. How can a leader of a country sign anything that’s been translated incorrectly and being half asleep? These were President Lee’s own words. He admitted that the translation was wrong and they were extremely tired and just wanted to get it over with. How can you trust a leader like that?
Also, just because there are some incidents with crazy Korean against the Americans don’t try to blame the whole country for it. I can turn that right around and just state a few news reports and say that the US is totally racist and crazy people as well. If you say “Koreans don’t like americans” and that’s true, you won’t be able to even walk around in Korea. Have you ever been attacked? I would assume no. Then how can you say that. I have been attacked and mugged in the US. Does that one incident make the US the most dangerous place to live? Or everybody hates the other race? I don’t think so. I love the US even though there are some crazy people who mess things up once in while.
Yes, I have been to Korea, as well as many other countries. And they are all just people. Nobody hates anybody. An attitude like that makes people hate YOU. And with enough people like you maybe the people can hate Americans. So do me a favor and don’t go around promoteing anti-US.
Don’t tell me I don’t know what I’m talking about I have done my research and I have been to the military and to Korea. I had my fair share of experience. I have been there and done that. Maybe even more than you have. So, I DO know what I’m talking about.
9:36 am on June 18th, 2008 21
Bottom line is that US beef if certifiably safer then Korean beef. The OIE has US beef rated higher then Korean beef because the Korean government does not want to register with the OIE.
http://rokdrop.com/2008/05/20/korean-beef-less-safe-then-american-beef/
How come?
Could it be because the Korean government knows that the OIE would find cases of mad cow disease in Korean cows? By not allowing the OIE to test Korean cows it allows the Korean beef farmers to claim their cows have no mad cow disease which is an easy claim to make when no one is allowed to test them. This information of safe Korean beef which really isn’t safe is fed to the unthinking masses who have no idea how unsafe Korean beef really is.
So the bottom line is that the Korean government is trying to hold US beef importers to a standard that they are not willing to implement on their own domestic beef industry. Maybe the US Congress should implement additional safety standards on Korean cellphones before importing them to protect American consumers from brain cancer without putting such measures on American cellphone manufacturers. I wonder how well that would go over with Korea?
These are artificial trade barriers that go against free trade which trade is what has made Korea the rich country it is today. The Chinese understand this quite well and when the Korean government tried to pull the same nonsense on the them during the Garlic War of 2000 and the Kimchi Crisis of 2005 the Chinese government responded in kind and the Korean government quickly backed down:
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0WDP/is_2000_June_12/ai_62708258
The Japanese on the other hand have stricter import standards on US beef because they hold their own domestic beef producers to the same standard. That is why the US beef industry is not raising a ruckus about Japan but are about Korea because of the utter hypocrisy of the Korean side. If the Korean government had their beef producers meet the same standards they are asking the US to meet then I would have no issue with restrictions on US beef imports to match the domestic standards. That facts are they are not and have no plans to either.
Also as I have already pointed out these protests are organized by the same anti-US groups that have been trying for months to find something to bash 2MB with and some bumbling by 2MB recently was seized by the anti-US groups to spread lies and misinformation over the Internet to the unthinking masses:
http://rokdrop.com/2008/06/16/anti-us-groups-linked-to-beef-protests/
These protests are anti-2MB in the sense that he is a pro-US president. Roh Moo-hyun was the one who negotiated the US-ROK FTA in the first place and never had mass protests against him despite all of his bungling because he was the anti-US groups’ man in the Blue House and they never waged a disinformation campaign about him over the internet and media like they did 2MB despite his advocation of the FTA. 2MB is not their man and that is why they are going after him and trying to politically neuter him before advancing their real agenda which has nothing to do with food safety and everything to do with anti-US leftist politics.
If you are directing your comment at me whether I have been attacked by Koreans, yes I have on multiple occasions. Do I blame all of Korea for this? No, and in fact when I was assaulted in the park outside Jongmyo Shrine a Korean security guard at the ticket counter came over and got the crazy guy assaulting me off of me. However, the crazy guy was let go with no repercussions where if a GI or a foreigner did the same thing they would be in jail.
Finally you also seem to be pretty defensive for someone who claims to know so much?
9:47 am on June 18th, 2008 22
Dontcha love it, GI, when some Googler wanders in and tells everybody how it is? And why did you respond to him when he communicated very clearly in his closing paragraph that he was only interested telling everybody what he knows and not reading any opposing information that might short-circuit the Matrix?
10:47 am on June 18th, 2008 23
I figure I have to address some of these drive by commenters just in case other people dropping in by way of Google reading the comment don’t take it to be true without reading the rest of the material I have posted over the years here on the ROK Drop.
I know long time ROK Drop readers are too smart to fall for the poor arguments made in the comment.
11:51 am on June 18th, 2008 24
I have not read online a single coherent post defending the protests. They all spout the same refutable arguments while simultaneously plugging their ears, just like Eric. Vershbow needs the patience of Job to endure his job.
9:49 pm on June 18th, 2008 25
Nothing i know about?? I LIVE IN KOREA. LMAO. and paradise?? oh i get it you must be a korean-american.. now i understand. you couldn’t make it in america so you decided to blame it all on us right.?? join the crowd. either way the video shows how UNQUALIFIED the korean citizens are at making a point.
11:15 am on June 21st, 2008 26
[...] been saying for some time, the Korean public was unhappy with their new President Lee Myung-bak for a variety reasons, but the anti-US groups saw an opportunity to smash Lee over the beef issue and used their internet [...]
9:54 am on June 25th, 2008 27
I remember being 22 and angry LOL. The video started out very credible, but then it turned into a rant. Great job on editing. Koreans need to realize that there are bigger problems than Mad Cow in this country. I think your video brings those issues to light.